Living Image
by Laryna6
Summary: The boy is far too much like his father. SnapeJames and slight SnapeHarry, unrequited and repressed. Gift fic.


Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter. Would have done fifth book differently.

Notes: Man, I can't believe I'm writing this…

Here's the scoop. Before everything went downhill at the end of last year, I promised my best friend taohuntress a story for her Yaoi Crossovers C2 in exchange for a story for my Yami/Yugi Yu-gi-oh C2 The Pharaohs Rule! And then my brain broke. The original concept involved Lord Vetinari from Discworld. Fear him. He's who Snape wants to be. Trying to make him do something he didn't feel like doing while brain dead…

Well, she hasn't done the fic for me either… well, we had a chat last night and we're not doing well in college currently: I'm brain dead, didn't hand in an essay and got a bad grade on two midterms, and she had a bad time in Japanese. I promised her a consolation ficlet, any ficlet, for lateness and her bad time, and she wanted Harry/Snape. I don't write Harry Potter. I don't like any of the pairings in Harry Potter: R/Hermione and Harry/Luna are tolerable but uninteresting. I can't see any possibility of OC Harry/Snape. I don't write OOC. But, well… here goes.

Exactly 500 words. Very subtle Snape/James and Snape/Harry, unrequited and repressed.

- - - - -

Really. The boy looked far, far too much like his father. Far, far too much.

He'd hidden his true allegiances very well. Only those in the Order Dumbledore had told knew he was a spy for the Order. Most of them didn't really understand his allegiances either: Black especially seemed convinced he was a 'double double agent' some odd Muggle phrase perhaps he'd heard while living as a beast with the beasts.

Voldemort had pretended to think him a traitor when he activated the Dark Mark and all but he and Karkaroff had appeared. But when Snape had come before him later he'd congratulated him on his good thinking: if the old fool managed to capture one of the others and found out when the Dark Mark had been used to send the call: Snape being highly visible at that time would prove he was truly a traitor to Voldemort.

He had never been angry with him, the Lord revealed. Turning in the failures to gain Dumbledore's protection and a place beside him in preparation for his Lord's return! Such a truly Slytherin act, befitting a true pureblood!

After all, he hadn't handed over any truly relevant information. He hadn't told Dumbledore's fools about Pettigrew, about the attack on the one who could bring him down…

He hadn't told Dumbledore… that was true enough.

He'd hated James. Black hair, green eyes, the heir of one of the most prestigious pureblood families, not an accidental, unwanted second to an offshoot branch that had lost everything but their pride in the fact that they were wizards…

The golden boy. Chaser, top scholar despite the fact he never studied and pulled prank after prank…

He tried to get back at them, but it always backfired. He'd tried to find their secret hideout, but had almost gotten killed. He'd had to be saved. By James.

That was only eclipsed in his memories by the time that, that filthy mudblood girl had saved him. James had only left off because of _her_.

He owed James his life. That was why. When Voldemort had targeted the filthy mudblood that now walked around Hogwarts with features that echoed in his nightmares… that was why he'd shared information. That was why he'd found Pettigrew. That was why he'd owled James that night. Told him what was coming. Told him to get away, meet him for more information…

But not in time. Why… he should not have waited! He'd told himself it wasn't safe… but every time he'd started toward the owlry he saw her and that baby… that baby that everyone said looked like both of them.

James wouldn't leave them behind. Voldemort would not rest until both the threat and the unclean one that spawned it were dead.

They'd been wrong though. The boy looked just like James. Acted just like James. Was just like James. Smart, powerful, lucky, famous, reckless, popular, hated everything dark…

Hated him for not acting in time, just like James still did.


End file.
